07/12/18
2018 Small Group Leadership Summit Highlights!
At a recent Leadership Huddle for our SpiritGroup Program Leaders, I asked each person to share a "spiritual highlight" of their summer as a check-in question. Every single person who attended our June Leadership Summit shared that it was their highlight.
What happens at the Summit that is so transformational? It's difficult to explain beyond the trite response, "You had to be there." But honestly... you really have to be there. There is tremendous love, connection, support and growth happening through this work, and the Summit is where it all comes together in one room for a weekend to remember.
Still, not everyone is able to join us...
So here are a few "magic moments" from the weekend, along with an invitation to mark your calendar for next summer: June 14-16 at Unity Village.
Our annual leadership awards are always a highlight of the Summit for me. Congratulations to this year's award winners:
SpiritGroup Campus of the Year - Unity of Arlington, TX
Program Leader of the Year - Lil Lezarre from Centre for Spiritual Living Edmonton (pictured above)
SpiritGroup Leader of the Year - Linda Rae Chappell from Unity Village Chapel
Communion Award - Hilarie Byrnes, Unity of the Foothills, Colorado
Connection Award - Deb Stevens, Unity Community of Central Oregon
Compassion Award - Robin Horn, Unity of Mesa, AZ
Community Award - Judy Poteete, Center for Spiritual Living Greater Las Vegas
Challenge Award - Catherine Smith & Marion Tudor from Unity of Arlington, Texas
EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
In addition to some phenomenal breakout sessions (special highlights included a funny and heart-opening talk from Kevin Kubota, the 2017 Small Group Leader of the Year and Rev. Jane Hiatt, sharing trends in attendance, engagement and giving since she began using SpiritGroups at her ministry in Bend, Oregon three years ago), we also engaged in some experiential team building activities designed to help us all connect while gaining important insights about the work we are doing together. (Great activities to take back to your ministries, too!)
Our Newspaper Community was fun, challenging, and insightful. Thank you to Steve Sande from Centre for Spiritual Living Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) for serving so well as our "mayor."
THE "HALL OF TRANSFORMATION"
We had a blast this year creating "milestone" posters for our ministries, providing us all with the opportunity to share ideas for building a thriving SpiritGroups program.
Look for more photos like this on our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/SpiritGroups
LEADING EDGE INSIGHTS
We are grateful to Dr. Gary Simmons for sharing his emerging membership/funding model as it connects with the SpiritGroups program as part of a special keynote/training.
We have peered into the future and the future is abundant and bright!
Learn more about Dr. Simmons and his transformational work with mission-centric New Thought churches at http://www.drgarysimmons.com.
JOIN US NEXT YEAR!
Next year's Small Group Leadership Summit will be June 14-16, 2019 at Unity Village. Mark your calendar today and make sure you are on our email list so you can be notified when early bird registration is open.
We look forward to seeing YOU next time!